I am looking into starting my own forum since I find that many forums do not address the issue at hand and not many mechanics are involved in the forums. do you techies think that this is too long of a name. I tried to think what people would search for and then incorporate that into my domain name.

lawnmowerpartsforum.com

after doing some research with the google keyword tool I found the following results:

So, can someone help me decipher what this means for me? does this mean that there is no need to put "forum" in the name? should I try to go with something to the effect of "lawnmower.com"? I would love to have "lawnmower.com" but it is already taken but is not being used (I think). When I google that name I don't find a site with that name???? Sometimes I get this message "The server at www.lawnmower.com is taking too long to respond."

Would I be better off to just add a forum to my shop website, all on the same site? My shop site is going to be something to the effect of superiorpowerequip.com or superiorpowerequipment.com, not sure yet. I was thinking about getting something with better keyword placement in the domain name (i.e. smallengine.com or lawnmower.com) and then have it linked to my shop domain. Is this smart?

Thanks,
Eli

ritchiem

04-13-2009, 01:04 PM

lawnmowerpartsforum.com

I think that is a good domain name. Remember that you can always have that domain forwarded to your static websites forum section. You don't need a whole separate website to house the forum.

SuperiorPower

04-13-2009, 01:08 PM

what about "mylawnmowerservice.com", "mylawnmowerparts.com", or mylawnmowershop.com" both of those names are available. I initially left the word "my" off of them and found those to be taken...

or "servicemylawnmower.com"???

Thx gang,
Eli

SuperiorPower

04-13-2009, 01:10 PM

Ok, thanks Rich!! I was typing while you were posting!

Eli

ritchiem

04-13-2009, 01:16 PM

what about this...your main website would be

http://www.superiorpowerequip.com

then add a sub-domain to the site so your URL would look like this

http://www.lawnmowerforum.superiorpowerequip.com

seems long however search engine spiders will treat each sub domain as a separate website. You could also create a sub directory...that would look like

http://www.superiorpowerequip.com/lawnmowerforum

that would be easier for you to maintain...but not as friendly to the spiders.

SprinklerRepair

04-13-2009, 02:24 PM

When trying to determine is you can rank a keyword phrase, this tool is great.

If your degree of difficulty is under 40, then using my google ranking tactics (http://www.**********.com), you can get 1st page exposure.

http://www.seologs.com/keyword-difficulty.html

Little's

04-13-2009, 08:27 PM

5 years ago I would have said it was too long, but anymore that is a normal length name.

SuperiorPower

04-18-2009, 10:40 AM

Thanks for everyone's help. I think I will stay with a subdomain rather than getting a whole new domain for the forum.

Can I create the subdomain before the rest of the site is online? Is that a good or bad idea?

Any advise on what program to use to create the forum? Does anyone have any experience with "smf" (Simple Machines Forum)? what about PHPBB? Are there better quality free forum software available? SMF and PHPBB come free with my 1and1 package.

Any suggestions on these questions?

Thanks in advance,
Eli

Little's

04-18-2009, 01:07 PM

my mistake.........

SuperiorPower

05-23-2009, 07:36 AM

Little's, no I initially asked about using a whole new domain, but based on the comments from some of the others I decided to just use a sub-domain.

SuperiorPower

05-23-2009, 07:45 AM

Thanks for everyone's help. I think I will stay with a subdomain rather than getting a whole new domain for the forum.

Can I create the subdomain before the rest of the site is online? Is that a good or bad idea?

Any advise on what program to use to create the forum? Does anyone have any experience with "smf" (Simple Machines Forum)? what about PHPBB? Are there better quality free forum software available? SMF and PHPBB come free with my 1and1 package.

Any suggestions on these questions?

Thanks in advance,
Eli

I can't believe I got no answer yet!!!

BTW, Steve I was trying to figure out how yours is set up. Are you using Vbulletin or is it VBadanvanced CMPS? Why did you decide to go with the selection you did?

CheapNEasy

05-23-2009, 10:16 AM

Lawn Equipment Forum
Lawn Equipment Repair Forum

Steve

05-23-2009, 05:50 PM

Vbulletin or is it VBadanvanced CMPS?

I think I used both. Why? I just wanted to experiment around with this options. I used to use ikonboard.

SuperiorPower

05-23-2009, 07:29 PM

I think I used both. Why? I just wanted to experiment around with this options. I used to use ikonboard.

I was trying to decide how I was going to make my forum. I have since made my forum. In the near, near future I will make it public (if its ok with you to do so on here).

Thanks,
Eli

LavaEagle

05-27-2009, 12:38 AM

its not that its to long its that, i would never think to type superiorpower"equip".com

that would throw me off.

SuperiorPower

05-27-2009, 12:36 PM

its not that its to long its that, i would never think to type superiorpower"equip".com

that would throw me off.

i understand but unfortunately superiorpowerequipment.com is already taken. Thus the URL I ended up with. BTW, I decided to go with lawnmowerforum.superiorpowerequip.com for my forum name.